Oct
31
I’m only in highschool, though I”m doing the IB Higher Level chem course which is considerably more intensive than regular chme. I have the option of choosing an elective subject in my chem class. Either organic chemistry or further physical chemistry. We’ve already done a fair bit of both last year. But now we have to choose. It’ll mostly be energetics and kinetics for p-chem and reactions for o-chem.
My question doesn’t really have to relate to my current situation. I was just wondering in university, which of the two do you consider to be harder? Would someone who majors in biochem have to do p-chem? I know that o-chem is absolutely necessary for biochem.
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2 Responses to “Physical chemistry or organic chemistry?”
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Physical chemistry is definately harder.
I consider PChem much harder than O Chem. The concepts are more challenging and it requires calculus (especially partial derivatives and calculus with complex numbers) to fully understand the concepts. I am sure the math will be paired appropriately for your class (it is possible to teach basic themodynamics/transport theory and structure and kinetics without calculus for greatly simplified problems). OChem-I was easy for me and OChem-II was a bit tougher, but it is all qualitative. If you an memorize structures and reactions, then you will have no problems with OChem. If you merely memorize the formulas for PChem, you won’t be successful. It requires doing a lot of homework problems to practice and develop problem solving techniques. PChem requires analytical rigor and mathematics to tackle challenging problems (heat flow, diffusion, reaction processes, etc.). PChem is an area where Physics and Chemistry merge. Check the curriculum for the school you want to attend to answer the question if BioChem majors need to take PChem, but I presume Thermodymanics (PChem1) is definitely required. My research into the thermodymanics of the water of hydration in bioassemblies has convinced me that all biochemists should understand physical chemistry. So many problems like protein folding, gene regulation, etc involve a detailed knowledge of PChem. But I also believe that biochem majors should have their own PChem curriculum. Engineers, physicists, chemists and biochemists all need to focus on separate aspects of PChem that are more important to their work. Best of luck!!!